Our second day started late as most of our days as we generally like to sleep in, have breakfast and hang out a bit as we decided what to do for the day. What became our usual morning fare was 5 eggs scrambled, seasoned with pepper and soy sauce. Since we got back from Japan back in 2007, we began seasoning our eggs with soy sauce instead of salt. We didn’t have the pepper this time around since the spices that we brought with us to Japan, we had left back home in Tokyo.
It was a morning like any other, only this time, we woke up in a nice small traditional Kyoto home. Enjoying our breakfast, we did what we had essentially begun to do almost every morning being in Japan. Call my mom on Skype and talk to the kids on the webcam. It was usually the early evening at home. This time around, I had decided to give my mom the grand tour of the house, including views of the outside. Since we were on WiFi, I was able to step outside with my laptop.
Getting ready for the day, we ended up figuring out how to use the washing machine, which was all in Japanese, but the owner of the house had a good set of instructions to make using appliances easier. We let that take care of our laundry as we figured out what we wanted to do for the day. We still had the issue of the Miyako Odori to take care of. I was starting to get worried that we might not be able to get a reservation since the event had just started today. They did have 3 showings per day, so I intended to reserve for the next day in the afternoon.
I fired up Skype and began calling their reservation number. The line was repeatedly busy, and it took us about 15 minutes before we got through.
“Moshi moshi.” (Hello)
“Ah, ohayo gozaimasu. Eigo ga hanasemasu ka?” (Ah, good morning. Can you speak English?)
“Chotto matte.” (Just a moment)
A nice lady had come on the phone speaking fluent English to help us out. Since I was on Skype, I was using the computer speakers and microphone, so the wife was able to listen to the conversation as well. We had continued to get a reservation for one of the afternoon showings the next day, and we told that payment was to be made at the ticket office. Cash only. We had made reservations on the Special Class ticket, which gave us seating on the main level with a group tea ceremony. We got our confirmation and seat numbers, then continued with the rest of the day.
Our laundry had finished and we were about ready to go. I had taken the basket upstairs to the outer balcony, where we would hang our clothes to dry. It was protected by a plastic overhang so should it rain, the clothes wouldn’t get wet, and it did rain that afternoon. You can see from the balcony, all of the other homes in the area crunched together tightly, but it was so dense, you couldn’t see much outside of the ally next to the house, other than other homes, and other balcony’s with clothing hung out to dry on them. Once in a while, I’d see the person in the house next to us taking care of drying towels.
The manager of the house had stopped by to make sure everything was good with the house, as well as to collect the cash for the three days stay. He was a nice gentleman that makes his living offering public and private tours. He had recommended a restaurant that we check out not far from Gion called Iso-Ya. We had agreed to check it out and he would later the next day, call to see if we were still up for it. I plotted the location of the restaurant into OffMaps to make sure we got to the right place when the time came. Just before leaving, I made sure to hand him the electrical bill that was sitting in the door this morning, joking that I didn’t have time to go to the konbini (コンビニ, Japanese pronunciation of convenience store) to pay the bill. He went on his way.
We had decided that our trip for the day was going to be Fushimi Inari Shrine. But we decided to save the cab fare and just walk. Fushimi Inari Shrine was off of Inari station. In order to get there, it was 2 stops from Kyoto station on a JR line, so the train fare was free for us. It was about a 20 minute walk to get to the station. Using the same route we took the previous day towards Shichi-Jo Dori, we continued westward towards the Kamo River. A number of blocks past that, we had continued southbound on Karasuma Dori towards Kyoto Station.
It was a different side of Kyoto Station than the side we exited on the day previously, so we weren’t familiar with the area. Once inside, it felt like a large complex of shopping. We decided to take some time to browse around a bit. We had gone to one of the basement levels of the station, which was full of small shops selling sweets and other food related gifts. This was starting to seem common place at larger train stations. In transit between places, many major train stations have areas where you can pick up sweets and gifts, as well as bento boxes. They were all usually of high quality and optionally, they were gift wrapped on purchase.
We ended up finding a nice area with pastries, which we held off on purchasing any until later. There were a bunch of cheese rolls that we passed on purchasing, but really wish we did. Next to the shop was a restaurant that primarily served sandwiches, so we figured we would make this our stopping point for lunch. Upon getting the menu, I had realized that it wasn’t an English menu, however, given that most of the items on the menu were written in katakana, which tends to be used for foreign words, it was easy enough for me to read the menu. We had a similar situation back in Tokyo at an Italian restaurant, where I could read the menu because it was in katakana. I ended up with a clubhouse sandwich and the wife had her BLT. We both had iced coffee for drink.
Once food was demolished and we had paid our bill, we made our way back to the main floor to try and find the JR Nara line. We had followed signs but ended up getting disoriented. Passing by a food vendor in the hallway, I decided I should quickly ask for directions.
“Eeh, sumimasen.” (Yes, Excuse me.)
“Hai?” (Yes?)
“JR Nara-sen wa doko?” (Informal: Where’s the JR Nara line?)
I didn’t quite fully understand everything she said, but what I did understand was “esukareeta”, which is the Japanese way of pronouncing “escalator”. I understood that I needed to go up the escalator, and from there, I would probably be able to find my way. I happily gave a polite, “Arigatou gozaimasu!” and went on my way. Sure enough, we ended up on an overpass that crossed over a number of lines, including the Shinkansen lines. Past that, we found the JR Nara platform. When we got on the platform, there was every indication showing that there were multiple levels of service. Generally that means that some trains don’t stop at some stations, such as local trains versus express trains. They don’t necessarily travel faster, but they don’t stop at as many stations.
There was a green train arriving to our right side as we looked down the platform. Still unsure of whether this was going to be the right train or not, once the train had stopped, I had walked over to the conductor booth to ask him if this train went to Inari station.
“Sumimasen. Kono densha wa Inari-eki ni ikimasu ka?” (Excuse me. Does this train go to Inari Station?)
“Ikimasu. Ikimasu.” (It goes there. It goes there.)
“Arigatou Gozaimasu.” (Thank you very much)
We got on the train, but it wasn’t scheduled to leave for another 5 minutes. We sat and waited as we watched others get on. As the train began to depart, we were reminded that this train was certainly different from the trains we were used to in Tokyo. When the cars began to move, we were able to hear noises underneath the floor from large metal parts clanging together. This noise was only apparent as the train cars got closer and further apart from each other as the train sped up and slowed down. The ride was only 5 minutes, and we had arrived at Inari station.
The station was a small station. At the time we weren’t used to small stations in Japan, since our usual station trips were to larger stops within the Tokyo metropolitan area. It was an interesting treat. It wasn’t much of a walk before we got to the exit gates, which we stood there for a bit waiting for a gate attendant to take a look at our JR Passes to let us through. They were busy helping other people purchase tickets to get through the automatic gates. It took about 20 seconds before he noticed we were waiting there. He eventually waved us through as well as a few other people that were riding on passes and non-magnetic tickets.
We had left the station not really knowing exactly where the shrine was. Once we got on the sidewalk, we had a pretty good guess. Right across the street was the entrance to the grounds of the shrine. We had not known much about the shrine other than that it was the place with those Torii gates lined up along walk was. The gates were very close together, and I usually tried to see if people knew what I was talking about by referencing the movie Memoirs of a Geisha. While the movie isn’t why we wanted to see it, we knew it would be a beautiful place. It really was was nothing like we actually expected it to be. It was a whole lot more.
It was about 3:00pm when we crossed the torii gate of the shrine entrance. We had walked down a smal road up to a bunch of shrines. There was one larger shrine that we stopped at for a bit as we watched other throw donations into the altar and ring a small bell. I had decided to take part in this throwing in a few yen myself, then tried to ring the bell, although my attempt to ring it wasn’t that great as the ball inside just rolled around instead of clanging around. We had continued towards the path of the torii gates.
The path was quite large and busy. Large gates had lined some of the short paths that we had taken. The way things were, you would walk a path surrounded by gates, then you would reach a rest stop. The rest stops near the base were the typical tourist stops and more shrines. Every stop had shrines. We had eventually reach a fork in the road. It wasn’t really much of a fork, but it was a double path of torii gates that ran parallel to each other. We had assumed that this meant it was one way traffic in each, so we took the left path.
We approached the next rest point, once again, more shrines. We saw a part of this area where not only was it a shrine with a torii gate leading up to it, the shrine was full of miniature models of torii gates. Because the general theme of Fushimi Inari was the fox, there was also an area where people were able to take a wooden silhouette of a fox, and draw the face in. These were some of the neatest things to look at since you get a general sense of the creativity of some of the people that drew on them.
At this point, the weather was still behaving. Although it was overcast and gloomy, we did have our umbrella with us that we had picked up in Tokyo. We had picked it up at the entrance to Kiddy Land in Harajuku. As it began to rain that day, many of the stores put out umbrellas for sale for around ¥500 to ¥600. That umbrella stayed with us the trip until we left back to Canada.
Continuing down the path, the route started to steepen as we started to climb up a small mountain. The paths began to change up, and we would come out of the gates not to see a rest stop, but more path going along trees in the forest. Along this path, you would pass by small shrines here and there. We got to a point on the route that on our left side, there was forest with a small creek flowing down the walkway. On the right side, before another steep staircase, there was a separate path that veered off towards a large grouping of smaller shrines. I had gone down this path while the wife continued up the stairs. The paths would eventually meet up.
There was smoke emanating from most of the shrines from the burning incense. In many shrines around Japan, they burn a scent of incense that becomes very familiar after a while. Our Kyoto home had an incense pot with a similar scent. As I walked up the staircase with more of these shrines, I saw some where there was groupings of incense burning in their pots. Looking down the path towards the wife, there were at least 10 to 20 smaller shrines on either side of the path. It was quiet as the rain was beginning to fall. You could hear nature around you with the smell of incense. I could see a building down the path with large flames inside.
We approached this building, seeing more people in the area as I was approaching the main hiking path, we stopped next to the building as we had a beautiful view of a small lake on the mountain side. We stayed there for a bit to take a breather, but we took the time to take in the sights, sounds and smells. Beyond the background chatter of people walking along the path, you could start to hear rain hitting the lake. It was a calming moment as we prepared to continue our journey. Walking by the building, the fire we had seen had been from a large gathering of candles. The flames on them were surprisingly large and could be seen from a distance. There was an older lady there that was maintaining the candles and keeping fresh ones lit as people prayed at the site.
Next to this area was a small restaurant. We found that along our route, we would come across many of these restaurants, which in many cases, were part of smaller homes on the mountain. The typical dish that we would generally see served is one called “kitsune udon”, or “fox udon”. The dish is typically made with udon noodles and deep fried tofu as the main ingredients. It is believed that the fox loves deep fried tofu, so the dish is named “kitsune udon”. It is a popular dish along the walk because the fox is a prominent symbol for the shrine. It is believed to be a messenger.
Later along our walk, we approached a flat area with railing. Looking past the railing, you could contrast with everything behind you, the natural beauty of nature with the industrialization of Kyoto. You had a clear view of much of the city. Turning around, we headed towards a couple houses. Straight ahead of us, there were two paths that continued on, and to our right between the two houses was another. We couldn’t really decide which path to go.
There was a small ice cream shop in one of the houses serving a soy vanilla soft ice cream and a green tea soft ice cream. On the steps of the other house was a family enjoying their nice cold snack. We had figured that maybe we don’t need a snack yet, but we’ll grab one on the way back as we were sure the paths came around back to the same place. In the middle of the flat was a clock. 4:00pm. It had been an hour since we arrived, but we hadn’t kept track. There was a small group of foreigners coming down from the far left path, and we took not of each other. One of them was looking pretty beat.
“Hey guys,” one of them had said to us. We had acknowledged them. They continued, “If you are looking to get to the top of the mountain, don’t go that way,” he said, pointing to the path between the two houses. “That way is hell.”
“So I guess I will be taking that one then,” I had said with a snicker. The wife and I had both discussed for a little bit where we should go, or if we should go back. We decided to take the path the foreigner had told us was hell.
A long hike awaited us, with thousands more torii gates, and many more shrines along the way. The rain had begun to fall quite hard. It was starting to get noticeably darker as we walked along, and some of the lights that border the walk way had began to light up. The path wound up and down. We ended up walking steep and shallow slopes as we journeyed along the path.
As the rain began to fall, something special happened. No one else was on the path. We were all alone with nothing but each other and the sound of rain pattering on the tree leaves that surrounded us. The sidewalk began to glisten as the lights reflected a glossy sheen off of the wet walkway. There was a light mist that began to envelop the area. I felt peaceful. It was one of the most beautiful moments of my entire trip to Japan for me. I am hiking on one of the most sacred trails in Japan, and we were alone. The atmosphere was perfect.
We were far enough along the path that most people don’t even bother going that far. Add the rain to the mix, and you are bound not to find many people. We came across some, but they were few and far between. We would still come across homes along the trail. The were looking more and more like traditional Japanese homes than shops or shrines. I had no idea what was in them. Some looked like small restaurants, and I assume most probably were. By each of the homes we would come across along the route, there were usually more shrines, and cleansing areas to wash your hands. These cleansing areas were not typical as you would usually find these ones at shrines and temples. They were usually a small cup with a long handle attached. They would usually be sitting on a couple lengths of bamboo over a basin of flowing water.
We had finally arrived back at the flat with the two houses. This time, we wanted to get some ice cream. 5:00. The shop had closed. It had taken us an hour to walk around that loop. I felt I could have done it again, but we wanted to get back and find some food. We continued back down the route we came. We ended up walking past the shrine of the flaming candles, but the candles had been extinguished. The lake had gotten more beautiful in the rain as it had developed a layer of mist. Fewer and fewer people were on the path as it was getting later, and the rain had kept many away.
Continuing back down, we started going through one of the last few torii gate paths before the parallel paths. We had seen a Japanese couple making their way up, but the one thing we had noticed is that the gal was wearing high heels. I wasn’t sure whether they had been on the route or not, but both the wife and I were certain that they were not going to be travelling up the entire way. Sure enough, we were at a shop near the base picking up a souvenir, a small wooden torii gate which now sits on the mantle of our fireplace, when that same couple had passed by us. Of course we both chuckled at each other knowing now what Fushimi Inari Shrine was really about.
While we went only knowing slightly about what to expect at the shrine, it was almost completely different than what we expected. I had boarded the train at Inari station thinking about the trek we had just endured. It took us about three hours from bottom to top and back again, and it could have taken longer had we veered off on other side routes. The experience was like no other, and I couldn’t help but think that I would like to go back again. Maybe this time during a sunny period, but I was quite content to enjoy the hike in the rain. I would probably recommend going during a rainy period.
We had arrived back in Kyoto Station. Time to find food. From the time we spent at the station earlier, we had found that it was on the ninth floor that most of the restaurants were. We decided to just go with the elevator, but even though there were a large number of elevators, none of them seemed to be stopping or heading towards us. By the time one did reach our floor, there were twenty or so people waiting for the elevator. It filled up anyways before we got on, so we decided it may end up being quicker to take the escalator. It probably was. It didn’t take us long to reach the top, but the trip was interesting.
The escalators to get to the top were done in a way so that when you got off one set, you got on another straight ahead, so you didn’t have to torn around and go to the other side to get on the next escalator up. Once we reached the eighth floor, others on the escalator had turned around to take pictures down the escalators. We continued our way to the ninth. The view allowed you to see straight down towards the main floor area as if you were looking down a straight nine story flight of stairs. It was a very unique view, but we waned food, so it was time to go hunting for it.
Many places in Japan will advertise their menu just outside their restaurant. In many cases, this advertisement is in the form of a glass display case with plastic replica versions of the items on their menu. This became a bonus for foreigners, even though it is generally part of every day life in Japan. We had found a restaurant we wanted to go to because the food did look very good of course. There was a bit of a wait to get in so we joined the lineup sitting just outside of the entrance within the hallway of the station.
One of the waitresses were handing out menus to the people in line to allow them to pre-order their meal before they were even seated. A couple in front of us were given the English version of their menu. This was the only copy. We eventually got it before we got in the restaurant, and made our orders, and got some beer. It was starting to become commonplace for my wife to be ordering beer, but there was something about Japanese beer she seemed to prefer. She has been ordering it at many places we went to which I thought was rather surprising.
After our meal, we had ventured back down to one of the basement levels of the station that we had visited earlier. We went back to that pastry shop hoping to get some of those cheese buns, only to find they had been completely sold out. Most of their pastries had been sold out. It was late, so I was guessing they stopped baking after a certain time and tried exhausting the rest of their stock. We took the time to browse around. There was gifts, groceries, snacks, almost anything you could think of was done there, including alcohol. We stopped by one shop on our way out and picked up some bread snacks.
Making our way back to the house, it was dark out, but still busy on the streets. It was probably around 8:00 pm by now, and we wanted to get back and rest. The wife had taken a number of pictures, but there wasn’t really anything out of the ordinary. It was just life in Kyoto and the general bustle that went with it. We got back home and relaxed. I had a bath waiting for me that I had drawn in the morning. I had started the heating cycle process to bring the water back up to forty degrees celsius. I had also went onto the deck to make sure our clothes were brought back in as I needed one of the towels.
Before crashing for the night, I had done some research to make sure we knew where we were supposed to go for the Miyako Odori, and made sure that I had pointed it out in my OffMaps application on my iPhone. There was not much else to do that night, other than get ready for the next day. It was a memorable day, and one that I don’t think I would ever forget. It was time for sleep as we think about Miyako Odori the next day.
